Incline tax protesters seek halt to hearings

INCLINE VILLAGE - Incline Village tax protesters claim hackers must have placed a paragraph on the Attorney General's Web site that exempts Washoe County's tax board from a Nevada open-meeting law's noticing requirement.

Residents protesting high Washoe County property taxes have filed a complaint in district court to stop Washoe County Board of Equalization hearings, claiming they didn't to receive adequate notice of the hearings.

The Village League to Save Incline Assets Inc. League contends that a paragraph in the Attorney General's open-meeting law publication that exempts the boards of equalization from the notice requirement does not appear in the printed copy of the manual, but has "mysteriously" appeared on the Attorney General's Web site.

Maryanne Ingemanson, president of the Village League, maintained, in a letter sent to all concerned parties that the paragraph was added by a "hacker."

According to the statute, the board is required to give 21 days certified- mailing notice or a five-day personal-delivery notice of the scheduled hearings in case of administrative action against a person or the condemnation of property.

Tom Sargent, public information officer for the Attorney General's Office, denies that anyone broke into the Web site and added a paragraph.

"That's ridiculous. What is contained in the Web site is an interpretation by the Attorney General's office and is open to any other interpretation or litigation," Sargent said.

"There's no evidence anywhere that that paragraph exists anywhere except on the Web site, and it's awfully convenient,what with the hearings going on," Harris said.

"The manual is done as a courtesy to the various board members in the state and is nothing more than a guide," Sargent said. "It shouldn't be taken as the absolute last word."

Harris is hoping that the case will be heard soon.